Share this:

There is no excuse for ignorance of the problems facing an organisation and its staff in the modern age. A bit of social media monitoring will probably throw up most “hidden” problems. It could be that in the social media era, people outside the organisation know more about its issues than those at the top, not using social media, do.

I think I’d challenge that only 4% of problems are known to top managers – certainly untrue where I work. That said one of the problems is that even if you do have a good overview of problems at a functional level – it then becomes siloed – and nobody has the holistic overview spotting linkages and patterns.

You’re right that strategic use of social media and transparency could do a lot to alleviate this. Question is – why isn’t it?

In an organisation like the nhs any hint of criticism in the public domain by an employee is likely to get the perpetrator into a whole lot of hot water so I am not sure that particular argument stacks up. For example, it would be far more insightful to go spend a week in a public ward in an acute hospital bed as an inpatient with a life changing diagnosis or chronic disability and just observe and experience what is going on for yourself!!! That might change a lot of people’s minds about how things need to change!!

I agree with the thinking hear, but would add an extra on to the sentence “The real action will only happen when you free up people to take the stage, break the rules and experiment.” add – and provide those people with the skills (confidence) and security to make change happen. By security I mean really allow people the ‘freedom to fail’ but ensure they learn from any failures without any retribution or threat. Difficult in this day and age where we all want instant results !

Too true Kevin. I remember an organisation organising a series of Dragons Den type pitches a few years ago. Some of the ‘Dragons’ took it a little too seriously and came down hard on the relative failure of one the ideas. Result = the participants never pitched again…

That sounds a lot what I tell organization to do: Employee Empowerment. Don’t tell them what to do but provide the tools so they can do what they are capable of (and what you pay them for) best. It is always linked to let go.

”You can’t have a mass movement without the masses” is such an apt truth. One to keep for future reference. If only others saw wiith clarity what’s in the article, might see actual change in organisations.

Posts by Month

About Me

I'm learner, sharer and Innovation Coach at Bromford.
As coach it's my job to develop a lab based approach to product and service development and to ensure a culture of creativity within the business.
We have a track record in project delivery and service change that crosses all disciplines and has resulted in numerous acknowledgements and awards.
I'm a regular contributor to forums , think-tanks , and research reports and often a speaker or advisor at conferences and events.
I'm a huge enthusiast of social leadership and never far away from social media.
Contact me at paul.taylor@bromford.co.uk